Angele nodded as a red glow surrounded his eyes. Some translucent black smoke flew to Xinrui, however, it did nothing to her.

‘Alright, the illusion spell doesn’t work and the bloodline ability did nothing…’ He had a general idea in mind. ‘She can check the painting for me since that’s the only thing she can do right now. I’ll turn her into an apprentice if she survives.’

It seemed like Xinrui recovered from the depression after the conversation and started asking about the runes again.

Angele answered some of her questions as he led the woman to the living room.

The woman was excited, she was running around while screaming.

Angele sat on the sofa and started thinking.

Angele was almost certain that the painting was not a soul form, it might be a strong being from a different realm. It was possible that the being could travel through dimensions.

He was not sure what the painting was trying to do, however, he knew that there was a secret hiding behind the painting. It was from the nature of his strong bloodline.

It was the reason why he decided to keep the painting. He thought that the secret might help him and the soul forms. The secret might solve everything for them.

“It’s time to pay the Nightmare Realm a visit…” He picked up the brown wooden cup from the table and took a sip from the green fruit tea.

Angele tapped on the surface of the table slightly using his right hand.

*PA*

A ball of black smoke was released and splashed everywhere.

The black smoke coated the doors of the rooms excluding the reading room and the storage room. The kitchen had no door so the woman could still access it.

*BAM BAM BAM*

The doors were closed and sealed.

Angele locked the rooms he wanted to lock and was satisfied with the result.

“What happened?” Xinrui walked around the living room carefully.

“Nothing, just do whatever you want. I have to go now.” Angele stood up and stared at Xinrui in the eyes.

“Remember, this is a test, I’ll take you in as my student if you can pass the test.”

Xinrui nodded with a blank expression on her face.

*BAM*

Angele’s body turned into a ball of dark flames and disappeared into the air.

********************

The sky was dark and there was thunder rumbling.

In the dark-red plain under the sky, a ball of dark red flames appeared on top of a small hill and it quickly turned into a human being.

The man was wearing a black robe, his long red hair trailed over his shoulders.

“I need to find out the truth about the sealed forms” Angele overlooked the Doomsday Eye Tower on the far side of the plain.

There was an enormous black shadow that looked like a human being standing by the black pyramid; his body looked like a cracked rock. It was a shell made by the mud and sand.

A ball of black smoke rose from Angele’s feet and he quickly flew to the black shadow.

*Rumble*

The thunder rumbled again and the noise was lowered gradually.

At the waist of the giant shadow, there was a white eyeball. The eyeball rolled and stared at the approaching black robe.

Two men in black armor with black edges bowed to Angele. They turned into golden light and disappeared into the sky.

A ball of black smoke stopped in front of the eyeball as the two men left. The black smoke vanished into the air, revealing Angele’s body.

“It has been a while, Eye Devil.” Raising his head, Angele looked at the giant eyeball.

The eyeball rolled and Angele’s appearance was reflected on its surface.

“I’m preparing for the next auction right now. I already invited two sealed forms that just woke up and Storm. It’s great that you’re back, Phoenix.”

Angele smiled. “I’m here to ask you an important question, a question about us.”

Eye Devil’s pupil retracted slightly for a second. “I knew you would ask about this sooner or later.”

Eye Devil stopped for a second and continued, “it’s a question that every sealed form wants to solve. You want to know why we sealed forms are sealed, right?”

Angele nodded. “Yeah, we’re strong and we have long life expectancies but why are we sealed? Are we sealed by someone else or do we just seal ourselves?”

Eye Devil was searching through her memory and did not answer the question immediately.

The two remained silent for a while.

It took a while for Eye Devil to organize the answer.

“Phoenix, you’re not born as a bloodline inheritor so you don’t understand… We have the power and the long life expectancy when we are born. It’s like you’re born in a rich family with a strong background, everything is ready for you. We conquered many realms and we defeated many strong beings, however…”

Eye Devil stopped for a second before she got to the point.

“The stronger the bloodline is, the more problems there will be, in another word, our power is limited.”

“Yeah, we seal ourselves for a reason,” Eye Devil agreed. “The power of bloodline came from the realm and the support from the realm power is the main problem. With the support of Nightmare Realm’s power, we’re undefeatable, however, with the support, the bloodline power will consume our souls. The bloodline power needs the support of realm power, it’ll drain the life energy from our souls when the realm power is not present.

“So, we seal ourselves when there’s not enough realm power,” Eye Devil continued. “That’s the cost of having such strong power. We can’t leave our realm. We can conquer as many realms as we want, however, we’re trapped in the Nightmare Realm.”

Angele’s expression turned serious as Eye Devil explained.

“Do you mean that you have to seal yourselves when there’s not enough realm power even if you’re in the Nightmare Realm?”

Eye Devil confirmed, “We can only be woken up when the realm power is active. There’ll be no support from the realm when the realm power is inactive so we have to seal ourselves. The situation will be the same for you. You’ll die if you don’t seal yourself when the time comes.”

“Is there another way to handle it?”

“Extract the power from the souls you collect and you’ll be able to delay the process.” It was also the reason why the sealed forms loved to collect souls. “Also, souls will increase our life expectancy.”

Angele inhaled deeply, it was not the result he wanted. The people he knew would all be dead because he would be sleeping for thousands of years when sealed. He wanted to stay with Vivian until she passed away but it would be a problem if he had to seal himself.

“The power of the Nightmare Realm is the source of our bloodline power, but at the same time, it trapped us in this realm. Without the support of the realm power, I’d be dead. That’s the truth I’ve been looking for.” Angele was certain that Eye Devil was telling the truth after thinking for a while. “How long until we need to seal ourselves again?”

“We can enjoy our lives for around 3000 years every time we unseal ourselves. We’ll seal ourselves again after the realm power becomes inactive. It’s still early so you can enjoy your power with nothing for you to worry about.” Eye Devil chuckled.

“I’ll enjoy my life more if I don’t have to seal myself from time to time.” Angele shook his head. “Haven’t you guys found a way to bypass the rule after all those years?”

“Well, there’s a way, but it’s hard to accomplish.” Eye Devil chuckled. “I can tell you the method for free since many people already know about it.”

“What’s the method?” Angele listened carefully.

“Our bloodline power is supported by the Nightmare Realm’s power; no matter which realm you were from, you’re now part of the Nightmare Realm. Nightmare Realm’s power will be strengthened if a bloodline from a different realm is accepted by it. However, the realm power will become your enemy if you try to break the restriction. If you can handle the realm power by yourself, you’ll no longer be restricted by the rule.” Eye Devil stopped for a second and continued, “You can also find a way to hide. If the Nightmare Realm can’t find you, you’ll be fine. However, this is just the first step.”

“After that, you need to make sure that your life energy is not drained completely by your own bloodline power. The easiest way is to seal yourself, become a guardian of a different realm, or collect souls. The best way is to become a strong being that’s at a whole different level.” It seemed like Eye Devil had a big goal. “Become a strong individual like the ones you heard about in the legends so you can fight the realm power without any problem, like Ancestor Sella of Chaos Realm. Ancestor Sella was the Water Ancestor, it provided water to five different realms after it left the Nightmare Realm. Ancestor Sella represented the purest water source.”

“Ancestor Sella, is it at the same level as Light Ancestor?” Angele wondered.

“Yeah, you know what you need to do now.” Eye Devil explained everything and stared at Angele.

Angele calmed down. “Why don’t we just give up the bloodline power?”

“We can’t. Sealed forms are considered as part of the Nightmare Realm. It’s like your body; you don’t want to cut your own limbs off, right? The Nightmare Realm won’t let you give up the bloodline power,” Eye Devil explained.

“Understood… I’ll validate that by myself.”

“You have the scorpion woman’s bloodline and you should be able to travel through the realms. Maybe you’ll become the third sealed form that escapes the Nightmare Realm. I would suggest that you check out a realm that is at the same level as the Chaos Realm.” Eye Devil closed the eye and stopped talking.

Angele narrowed his eyes. “So, it’s possible to escape the Nightmare Realm. Can you tell me their names and experiences?”

Raising his hand, some red light shined upon his palm and turned into a red bead.

“Thanks.” Angele turned around and disappeared into a ball of dark flames.

Eye Devil opened her eye again after Angele left.

“He might be our hope… The last one who escaped also had the bloodline of scorpion woman…”

***************************

Angele checked the wooden house after leaving Doomsday Eye Tower and the woman in black already left. She left a letter and said that she had somewhere she wanted to visit.

He was not concerned, the woman could barely do anything for him after he became Lord of Terror.

Angele organized the house and received a message from Eye Devil’s service. The servant reported that they found people at Angele’s old place so Angele headed to his home right away.

It took him five days to get to the mansion by the river.

The white walls and the fences were covered with green vines. There were many dried yellow leaves on the plated path. The rusty gate was half-open and Angele could see the footprints on the ground.

‘Maybe Frey and Freia are back.’ Warmth filled up Angele’s mind. He spent years with them and he already considered them his own children.

He recalled the day Frey left the mansion and the dedication in his eyes. He still remembered Freia’s cute face.

Angele stopped thinking and slowly walked into the rusty gate.

*Crank*

The gate made some noise as it was pushed open.

Some birds flew away after hearing the noise. The white, black, and red birds left the mansion and quickly disappeared into the sky.